The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) under the leadership of the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, has rejected the Bauchi State government’s plan to site the headquarters of the proposed Sayawa Chiefdom in Tafawa Balewa LGA of the state.
The council, on Thursday, in a statement said the decision was unfair to the historical antecedents of Tafawa Balewa town.
The statement signed by Secretary-General of NSCIA, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, said the council has been following matters and issues concerning Tafawa-Balewa since 1991 when the first ethno-religious disturbance occurred.
“Since then, there had been intermittent clashes and conflicts in the town and its environs. Previous and incumbent governors in the state have made efforts at restoring peace and ensuring harmonious co-existence.
“These efforts have been responsible for the relative peace that has been enjoyed in the area, though it is in a way, peace of the graveyard since Muslims have been completely displaced from the town for about 14 years now,” Oloyede said.
He said the council can state on authority that one matter that has remained intractable in the Tafawa-Balewa crises is the issue of the Sayawa Chiefdom.
He said, “Again, the bone of contention has been the issue of the siting of the headquarters of the chiefdom. It is pertinent to state here that the Bauchi Emirate Council and the Muslim Community of Tafawa-Balewa have both conceded to the creation of the chiefdom in the interest of peace. Both have also unequivocally rejected the siting of its headquarters in Tafawa-Balewa.
“All committees appointed by successive regimes in the state consistently recommended the siting of the chiefdom in Bogoro. The administration of Governor Isa Yuguda even went to the extent of sending a bill to the State House of Assembly in 2014 on the chiefdom, clearly stating Bogoro as the headquarters of the chiefdom. The matter could have been concluded but for the objection of the Sayawa people who would not accept the chiefdom as long as Tafawa-Balewa is not its headquarters.
“Strikingly also, even the committee appointed by Governor Bala AbdulKadir Muhammad under the chairmanship of Ambassador Chinade did not recommend the siting of the Chiefdom in Tafawa-Balewa.”
The NSCIA scribe noted that it is instructive that there are several reasons that prevented all the committees from recommending the siting of the headquarters of the chiefdom at Tafawa-Balewa.
“These include historical, moral, political and demographic reasons. Historically, the town was founded and named by the Fulanis and had existed for more than four centuries before the first Sayawa man settled in the town in the 1960s.
“Morally, after perpetrating series of aggressions against Muslims and killing hundreds of them in the town, nobody in his right conscience would think of offering it to them as the headquarters of their chiefdom.
“Demographically and politically, the Sayawa people for whom the chiefdom would be purportedly created are more predominant in Bogoro LGA than in Tafawa-Balewa LGA where they have only two wards out of 16 and Tafawa-Balewa is located within a village area that is religiously and ethnically heterogeneous,” Oloyede said.
He said the council, like many other peace-loving individuals and groups, has advised the governor against this plan.
He said, “For all the reasons stated above it is very clear that the planned siting of the headquarters of the Sayawa Chiefdom in Tafawa-Balewa by the governor is not in the interest of peace, nor is it in consonance with principle of justice and moral rectitude.
“It is on this note that we hereby call on the governor to change his plan and explore options that are more attuned to justice and equity as well as enduring peaceful, harmonious co-existence in the area.”
The council unequivocally rejected the plan of the governor to site the headquarters of the Sayawa Chiefdom in Tafawa-Balewa because it is a recipe for ethno-religious conflicts.